PA Capitol News

NOTICE: The PA Capitol News Blog will be temporarily closed Tuesday, Nov. 3 in observance of Election Day. No NewsClips or updates will be posted. The Blog will reopen Wednesday morning.

Senate returns to voting session Nov. 10 or at the Call Of President Pro Tempore

House returns to voting session Nov. 10 or at the Call Of The House Speaker

WHYY: PA Officials Push Back On Trump Demand For Quick Election Call

Jan Murphy: More Than 2.4 Million Mail-In Ballots [78%] Have Been Returned In PA

Dept. Of State: Voters Who Did Not Receive Their Mail-In Ballot Should Vote At The Polls

AP: No, Pennsylvania Isn’t Trying To Disenfranchise COVID Voters, More False Conservative Claims

Dept. Of State: PA Voters In COVID Quarantine Should Contact County Elections Office To Make Arrangements To Vote

AP: Trump Promises Court Fight Over PA Mail-In Votes Received After Election

Op-Ed: Please Be Patient On Election Day Philadelphia - Philly Mayor

October State Revenue $365.6 Million Over Estimates; $824.5 Million Above For Fiscal Year [PaCN]

Civil Justice

Editorial: Cultural Proficiency In Schools

Coronavirus

Dept. Of Health Reports 11 Additional Deaths Due To COVID; 3,969 New Cases [2-Days]-- 11.2.20

Gov. Wolf Release COVID Early Warning Monitoring Dashboard Update For Oct. 23-29

State Police Liquor Enforcement Issues 20 NOVs, 43 Warnings For COVID Violations

Dept. Of Corrections Mass Tests Inmates At SCI Laurel Highlands Using New Antigen Tests

Editorial: Is A Fear Of Flying During The Pandemic Grounded?

DCED: Restaurants Can Increase Indoor Capacity To 50% With Self-Certification

West Chester’s Business District Fighting COVID Hard, But Winter Is A Looming Threat

Click Here For This Week’s PA Coronavirus NewsClips

Monday - Part II - PA Environment & Energy NewsClips 11.2.20 -- Click Here

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FairDistrictsPA: Fix Our Broken Redistricting Process

[Posted: November 2, 2020]

October State Revenue $365.6 Million Over Estimates; $824.5 Million Above For Fiscal Year

On November 2, the Department of Revenue collected $2.6 billion in General Fund revenue in October, which was $365.6 million, or 16.4 percent, more than anticipated.

Fiscal year-to-date General Fund collections total $12.5 billion, which is $824.5 million, or 7.1 percent, above estimate.

The Independent Fiscal Office released its own report on October state revenues saying they were $275.2 million or 11.9 percent higher than their projections. Read more here.

“Revenue collections are ahead of estimate to this point in part because of better than expected collections in our three primary revenue sources — sales tax, personal income tax and corporate net income tax,” Secretary Hassell said. “We’re pleased to see the national economy is bouncing back from the recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we still have a long way to go to recover the revenue that was lost during the economic downturn earlier this year.”

The Department of Revenue will continue to closely monitor revenue collections so that the Governor and members of the General Assembly have the latest information as it becomes available.

Below is a full overview of October revenues by tax type:

Sales tax receipts totaled $1.1 billion for October, $145.0 million above estimate. Year-to-date sales tax collections total $4.4 billion, which is $328.4 million, or 8.1 percent, more than anticipated.

Personal income tax (PIT) revenue in October was $1.0 billion, $123.2 million above estimate. This brings year-to-date PIT collections to $5.5 billion, which is $185.6 million, or 3.5 percent, above estimate.

October corporation tax revenue of $122.6 million was $25.2 million above estimate. Year-to-date corporation tax collections total $1.3 billion, which is $157.8 million, or 14.3 percent, above estimate.

Inheritance tax revenue for the month was $97.1 million, $17.0 million above estimate, bringing the year-to-date total to $405.6 million, which is $51.3 million, or 14.5 percent, above estimate.

Realty transfer tax revenue was $65.4 million for October, $22.2 million above estimate, bringing the fiscal-year total to $193.2 million, which is $55.3 million, or 40.1 percent, more than anticipated.

Other General Fund tax revenue, including cigarette, malt beverage, liquor and gaming taxes, totaled $161.1 million for the month, $24.2 million above estimate and bringing the year-to-date total to $639.1 million, which is $77.9 million, or 13.9 percent, above estimate.

Non-tax revenue totaled $32.3 million for the month, $8.7 million above estimate, bringing the year-to-date total to $86.7 million, which is $31.8 million, or 26.8 percent, below estimate.

In addition to the General Fund collections, the Motor License Fund received $205.3 million for the month, $6.3 million below estimate. Fiscal year-to-date collections for the fund – which include the commonly known gas and diesel taxes, as well as other license, fine and fee revenues – total $975.3 million, which is $6.1 million, or 0.6 percent, below estimate.

[Posted: November 2, 2020]

PA Election Returns Website, Dashboard To Offer Extensive Data On Vote Count, Including Mail-In Ballots

On November 2, Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar announced a refresh of the Pennsylvania Department of State’s display of election-returns data, including an update to the Department’s website cataloging votes cast by mail and in person, as well as the creation of a supplemental dashboard to show the progress of ballots cast that have not yet been counted, broken down by county.

“Voters, candidates and the press can find the earliest and most complete picture of the unofficial results of the general election on our website, while tracking the progress of the counting in all 67 counties on our dashboard” Secretary Boockvar said. “We will collaborate with all county election offices to consolidate and post their results as soon as they are available, including itemized results of mail ballots, in-person votes at polling places, and provisional ballots, and display how many ballots and precincts remain to be counted beginning at 8 p.m. on election night.”

The department’s vote-counting dashboard will offer frequent updates on the progress of mail-and absentee ballot canvassing, as well as precincts completed and provisional ballots fully counted or partially counted.

Visitors to votesPA.com/Counting will be able to see the total number of mail ballots that have been cast and counted as those numbers are reported by the counties.

The dashboard will also display the number and percentage of precincts for which polling place voting results have been reported by the counties. In the days after the election, data on provisional ballot counts will be available.

Results will be posted on the main election-returns site as the department receives reports from the counties after the polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day. Until then, the site will only show test data.

A demo of the dashboard is available on the Department of State website.

On November 3, voters will elect the President and Vice President of the United States; U.S. Representatives; the State Attorney General, Auditor General and Treasurer; State Representatives; and State Senators in odd-numbered districts.

Polls will be open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters who plan to vote in-person can find their polling place on votesPA.com.

[Posted: November 2, 2020]

Monday PA Capitol & COVID NewsClips 11.2.20

NOTICE: The PA Capitol News Blog will be temporarily closed Tuesday, Nov. 3 in observance of Election Day. No NewsClips or updates will be posted. The Blog will reopen Wednesday morning.

Senate returns to voting session Nov. 10 or at the Call Of President Pro Tempore

House returns to voting session Nov. 10 or at the Call Of The House Speaker

This Election Day, The Eyes Of The Nation And The World Are On PA

Jan Murphy: Here Are Some PA Legislative Races That Could Flip In Tuesday’s Election

WHYY: Thousands Of Volunteers To Help PA Voters Protect Against Intimidation On Election Day

Philly Mayor, Top Elections Official Call For Calm Ahead Of Election Day

Op-Ed: Please Be Patient On Election Day Philadelphia - Philly Mayor

Jan Murphy: More Than 2.4 Million Mail-In Ballots [78%] Have Been Returned In PA

Dept. Of State: Voters Who Did Not Receive Their Mail-In Ballot Should Vote At The Polls

Republicans Challenge Small Number Of Allegheny County Mail-In Voters

When Will Election Results Be Known For Allegheny, Westmoreland Counties?

Westmoreland County Election Employee Tests Positive For COVID